Education Minister Ahmed Al-Issa apologized for the “inadvertent error” on Twitter, a sign of the power of viral online embarrassment in this highly-wired society. He said the ministry would print a corrected copy of the book and had formed a committee to determine the source of the mistake.

This week, he replaced Mohammad Bin Atiyah al-Harithi, ministry undersecretary for curriculum and education programs, according to Saudi-owned television channel Al Arabiya. He also ordered a review of textbooks by government-owned company Tatweer.

The photo was a creation of 26-year-old Saudi artist Abdullah al-Shehri, who has gained renown for mixing pop culture icons into historic photographs.

Shehri said he was surprised to see his photograph end up in the school textbook.